In a moment, they are standing together, in tall grass, beside a roadside sign: "Welcome to Pavo - Home of World Arm Wrestling Champ Cleve `Arm Breaker' Dean."

Located 20 miles north of the Florida border, Pavo has a population of 774. Its mayor, L.M. Taylor, keeps Dean's 1994 Yukon Jack World Arm Wrestling title belt under watch at City Hall. Taylor crows, "We have an old saying that Pavo, Georgia, is Dixie's garden spot. Cleve is livin' proof of what these vegetables will do."

To the relief of local seismologists, the 6-foot-7 Dean, a pig farmer turned saloon owner, has over the past seven years slimmed from 700 to "right close to 500 pounds," prime arm rasslin' weight. Promoted as "the Babe Ruth of his sport, " Dean doesn't merely defeat opponents. In his sport's lexicon, he "flashes 'em!" with an instantaneous pinning.

An intimidating sight, Dean is a kind man, a divorced father of three who in conversation is full of "Yes, Ma'ams" and "Yessirs." He has a 28-inch neck, a 62-inch waist and a daughter who often got stood up on dates when boys learned who her father was. At 41, he looks a bit like the late actor John Candy - make that two John Candys.

Yukon Jack's two-time defending middleweight champ, John "Ice Man" Walker is also a legend of the sport. He is a supervisor in Kellogg's Eggo waffle plant off Fulton Industrial Boulevard. Unlike Dean, Walker has a sinewy frame, except for that outsized right arm. The arm's bulging veins look like a Georgia road map.

Walker is a 50-year-old grandfather, two decades older than most of his opponents. Years ago an announcer noted his calmness as he approached the match table and said, "You mind if I call you `Ice Man?' "

Arm and/or wrist wrestling - different techniques but the same idea - used to be the civilized way to settle a barroom dispute. It gained popularity as a sport during the 1970s, then faded in the mid '80s. Today it is part sport, part nightclub act - complete with rules, customized match tables and a referee. The hardest-fought matches can last several minutes.

Sylvester Stallone's 1987 movie "Over the Top" reinvigorated the sport. Dean was supposed to be Stallone's much-feared opponent in the film, but when Stallone put his hand in Big Cleve's mitt, "It was like a young boy's hand - and a very young boy, at that," says Dean. Casting directors chose a smaller opponent instead, costing Dean $50,000.

That year, health problems nearly ended Dean's career. His blood pressure was extremely high, and he also needed back surgery to correct nerve damage. Doctors feared he wouldn't survive surgery. Depression set in, and he gained weight, ballooning to 700 pounds. Exercise, he feared, would cause a heart attack. Often, he sat on his bed, calming himself. "Finally, I decided not to be a living dead person," he says. He began training lightly, restoring faith.

He returned to competition in 1993, and a year later he won his first Yukon Jack title in San Francisco.

The Arm Breaker and the Ice Man are old friends, having traveled to competitions together, sharing motel rooms and rental cars.

Walker entered the sport on a lark in 1976, signing up for a contest at Six Flags Over Georgia. Beginning in 1977, Walker won various middleweight titles for 10 years, then retired for a spell when prize money declined. In nearly 20 years, Walker says, he's lost only 10 times and won about $30,000 in prize money.

Since 1977, Dean says, he has won more than 50 heavyweight titles, winning "about 99.9 percent" of more than 3,000 matches. He says he's earned about $100,000 in prize money - roughly $5,000 a year.

The two Georgia champions frown upon arm wrestling's freak acts. Walker says some opponents will allow their handlers to slap them into a rage before matches. One opponent nicknamed "Bulldog" came out against Walker wearing a spiked collar.

Another appeared at the match table smoking a cigar. He chewed his stogie, eating it, as smoke rose from his mouth. "Then he drank a can of Valvoline motor oil," says Walker, adding, "Doctors had to pump his stomach after the tournament was over."

A challenger once dared to surprise Dean by spitting out a baby sparrow just before a match.

Neither motor oil nor a baby bird distracted the Ice Man or the Arm Breaker. They both won in a flash.

Professional arm wrestler Cleve Dean studies an action figure created in his likeness. (Photo by Joey Ivansco.)